Woman wins $4.3M in texting while driving case

A Florida woman who was severely injured in a crash caused by a man who was texting while driving has won a $4.3 million lawsuit.

The law firm representing 26-year-old Cacilia Carter told The Daytona Beach News-Journal that the verdict was handed down Aug. 5 in Flagler County Circuit Court.

Carter was a passenger in a vehicle by her then-boyfriend Joseph O'Guin on Dec. 20, 2010. Carter's attorneys claimed O'Guin was texting and ran a stop sign. The Florida Highway Patrol reported the vehicle slid into a tractor-trailer.

Attorney Luis Gracia says Carter is still impaired and permanently disabled. Gracia says O'Guin did not testify during the trial.

There was no jury in the case, so Circuit Judge Dennis Craig made the ruling.